August 24, 2012

University of Colorado Chancellor Phil DiStefano notified the Boulder campus faculty Tuesday afternoon that professors "do not have the right to shut down a class or refuse to teach" should they learn that one of their students is lawfully carrying a gun under a concealed-carry permit. University of Colorado Chancellor Phil DiStefano notified the Boulder campus faculty Tuesday afternoon that professors "do not have the right to shut down a class or refuse to teach" should they learn that one of their students is lawfully carrying a gun under a concealed-carry permit. Read more at:http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_21366376/cu-boulder-profs-cant-cancel-classes-over-gun

August 10, 2012

It's easy to understand why schools may look for what might appear to be quick and easy answers in the wake of tragedies. But Marisa Randazzo, a consultant and former chief research psychologist for the U.S. Secret Service, says many self-proclaimed experts are peddling models that are unproven at best. "Campus threat assessment became a hot industry," Randazzo says. "And there are some folks out there who are very savvy marketers and have really played up on fears ... selling training that is not provided by qualified trainers." Threat assessment teams also continue to be bogged down by questions of exactly what to report and when. Federal law now requires schools and therapists to report immediate threats to police. But what about someone who may fall just below that threshold, engaging in something an observer might describe just as "disturbing behavior"? Read more at:http://www.npr.org/2012/08/08/158429624/to-prevent-a-tragedy-how-much-can-a-school-do

July 27, 2012

A Portland State University graduate student expelled after allegedly threatening violence against a faculty member wants to return to the university. Henry Liu has filed for an administrative review of his expulsion. A hearing is set for Aug. 3 in a case that raises questions about the balance between student rights and campus safety in an era of school shootings at both the high school and university level. The university banned Liu, who was in the conflict resolution program, from campus this spring after a classmate reported to police that the student was upset with a professor and talked about guns in the same conversation. Read more at:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2018778573_apuscampusthreatallegation.html

July 02, 2012

Federal GI Bill college benefits, like almost any student-aid program, can have tricky rules and regulations. And when students take their questions to the Internet, they frequently end up at GIBill.com. But instead of offering impartial explanations and how-to tips, the site has functioned largely as a sales lead tool for a network of for-profit colleges. Attorneys general in 20 states — Florida included — accused the website of deliberately misleading tactics, as the site’s design could lead students to mistakenly think the site is either government-operated or endorsed by the military. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and her counterparts in other states announced a national settlement had been reached with QuinStreet, the California-based marketing firm that has operated GIBill.com and passed along veterans’ contact information to its for-profit college clients. Read more at:http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/27/2871443/college-information-website-settles.html

June 22, 2012

About 30 Old Dominion University students have assisted campus police as patrol aides - looking for suspicious activity, escorting students at night and answering phone calls for the Safe Rides program. On Friday, a campus police sergeant emailed them to say the program and their $8.15-an-hour jobs were coming to an end because of budget cuts. But the university says the sergeant jumped the gun, and Police Chief Rhonda Harris only wants to "revamp" the program. Either way, the students don't know whether they'll be helping to patrol the campus in the fall. Read more at:http://hamptonroads.com/2012/06/student-patrol-aides-odu-told-jobs-are-cut

June 05, 2012

Now some are questioning whether there were signs the campus community missed, anything that could have foretold — and prevented — the violence. Recalling the January forum, Stewart, a Morgan senior, says, "An MSU official should have approached him afterward, and should have asked him what he was talking about." Following tragedies like the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 or the beating death of a University of Virginia lacrosse player Yeardley Love in 2010, campuses across the country — including Morgan — have developed intervention programs and threat assessment teams. They are designed to, among other things, spot the needle-in-a-haystack student who could be a danger to himself or others. It's unclear if university officials questioned Kinyua's behavior before the May episodes. Read more at:http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-06-02/news/bs-md-maryland-cannibal-morgan-response-20120602_1_morgan-state-student-campus-shooting-rotc

April 23, 2012

June marks the 40th anniversary of Title IX, the federal gender-equity law that has made headlines mostly on the sports pages. But over the last decade or so, through a series of court rulings and more recently controversial guidance published by Obama administration, Title IX has shifted onto a different patch of contentious terrain — sexual assault on college campuses. It is transforming how colleges must respond to allegations of sexual violence. The reasoning: Title IX’s key language, running barely 30 words, forbids sex-based discrimination that denies access to educational opportunity. It’s long established that sexual discrimination and harassment can create an atmosphere that denies women their right to education. What’s newer is applying the logic to even a single episode of sexual assault. Read more at:http://articles.boston.com/2012-04-21/news/31379502_1_sexual-violence-sexual-assault-assault-on-college-campuses

April 18, 2012

CU announced last week that the grassy area of Norlin Quad -- which in past years has drawn more than 10,000 people for the unsanctioned 4/20 marijuana smoke-out -- will be closed entirely, and the school will apply a fish-based fertilizer to the lawn. The entire CU-Boulder campus will be closed to the public, except for visitors who have gained permission ahead of time. Shutting down the University of Colorado's campus to visitors Friday thwarts the public's right to protest government policy, Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Read more at:http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_20408280

April 17, 2012

For the last decade, USC has enrolled the largest number of international students of any college in the country: 8,615 last year. The Los Angeles university worked hard to achieve that — recruiting students from China, India and South Korea, among 100 countries in all, and providing services for the foreign students once they get here. Now campus officials are faced with the slayings this week of two graduate engineering students from China in a shooting about a mile off campus. While mourning this tragic event, they also hope the school won't lose its top position in international enrollment. But Barmak Nassirian, an official at the American Assn. of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, said the slayings of Ming Qu and Ying Wu, both 23, could affect overseas perceptions if news coverage portrays Los Angeles as dangerous. Read more at:http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0414-usc-foreign-20120414,0,3226109.story